1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a steering system for correcting or compensating for side winds and the like and more specifically to a system which is applied to a rack and pinion steering system and which does not interfere with normal steering in the event of a malfunction thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A previously proposed arrangement for compensating for the effect of side winds and the like is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. In this arrangement a so called "parallel link" type steering arrangement including, a steering gear 1, a pitman arm 2, a cross rod 3, an idler arm 4, side rods 5 and a servo mechanism 6, is mounted on the chassis of the vehicle. As shown, the servo mechanism 6 is controlled by a circuit arrangement including a conversion and compensation circuit 7 which receives an input indicative of the angle of the road wheels with respect to the vehicle chassis, and a yaw rate sensor 8 which senses the rotation of the vehicle about an axis essentially normal to the chassis thereof. The outputs of the compensation circuit 7 and the yaw rate sensor 8 are fed to a mixer 9 which in turn outputs an appropriate signal in accordance with the difference between the signals. With this arrangement the servo mechanism 6 applies an additional amount of steering to the front wheels 10 to compensate for any deviation from the intended course due to side winds or the like.
However, this arrangement has suffered from a notable drawback in that in the event the servo mechanism 6 malfunctions, its interposition between the pitman arm 2 and the cross rod 3 severely hampers efforts to steer the vehicle.